Trap-door for railway-car platforms.



E.F.CHAFFEE TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23. 1915.

1,214,756. I Patented Feb. '6, 1917.

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E. F. CHAFFEE.

TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CAR PLATFORMS.

APPLICATION mm llJLY 23.1915.

1,214,756. Patented Feb. ,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS like FEE TATES PATEET @FETQE.

EDWARD r. CI-IAFFEE, or SYRACUSE, new YORK, assrenon TO THE 0. M. EDWARDS COMPANY, IE0, or SYRACUSE, new YORK, a oonronarron or NEW YORK.

TRAP-DOOR FOB RAILWAY-CAR PLATFORMS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

Application filed July 23, 1915. Serial No. 41,529.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. CHAFFEE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Trap-Door for Railway- Car Platforms, of which the'following is a specification.

This invention relates to trap doors for railway car platforms and has for its object a particularly simple and eflicient arrangement of the lock and its operating means by which the door is held in its closed position. The invention consists in the novel combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed. Other objects will appear throughout the specification.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which characters designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of one form of trap door embodying my invention, the contiguous portions of the car structure and the car platform being also shown partly in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the plane of line AA, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the trap door, a contiguous portion of the car structure being also shown.

This trap door comprises generally, a floor, supporting means for the floor including hinge member and a portion here shown as a bracket fixed to the hinge member and underlyingthe floor, a latch carried by the bracket near the free edge of the door for holding the door in its closed position, and operating means for the latch carried by the floor of the door.

1 designates the car platform. 2, 3 designate the platform structure around the platform opening, and i designates the riser of the top step of the platform.

5 is the fiooror plate of the trap door, which is hinged to the platform by any suitable means. As here shown, the liinging means includes a barrel 6 which is journaled in suitable bearings 7, 8 supported by the car platform, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the barrel having therein a torsion spring 9 fixed at one end to one bearing, as T, and at its other end in any suitable manner to the barrel, the springbeing tensioned to normally turn the barrel in such direction as to open the trap door.

10 is the bracket supporting the floor of the door, the bracket being, in this embodi ment of my invention, shown as having a bearing 11 at one end fixed to the barrel, the

bracket underlying the floor 5 and having its free end slidably interlocking with the free edge of the floor or plate 5. As here shown. the bracket is formed with a portion 12 at its free end which extends around the free edge of the floor 5 and laps the upper face of the margin of the floor 5, forming an undercut groove or channel 13 in which the floor 5 slides.

The floor 5 is slidably mounted on the hinging means or barrel 6. and is here shown as formed with hangers 1% having openings which fit the barrel 6, the hangers being; s ccured to the under face of the floor in any suitable manner. The free edge of the flour 5 normally rests upon a ledge 16 formed on the end sill of the car platform, and this ledge is formed with a suitable notch in which the free end 12 of the bracket normally rests.

17 is the latch for holding the door in its closed position. Said latch is carried by the free end of the bracket 10 and coacts with a suitable keeper '18 on the car structure.

19 is theoperating member for the latch. Said operating member 19 is carried by, and slidable with, the floor or plate 5, and is siidably interlocked with the latch 17 and movable out of operative relation therewith when the floor isslid from its normal position relatively to the bracket 10. The latch 17 is shown as pivoted at :20 in a recess in the free end of the bracket 10 and as formed with a slot 21 on its upper side extending parallel to the directionvof the sliding movement of the fiOOr 5; and the operating member 19 is in the form of a lever pivoted at 22 in an opening in the floor 5 and having one arm 23 thereof extending into the slot 21 of the latch 17 and having its other arm in the form of a plate normally flush with the tread surface of the floor 5, the latter arm overlying a recess or depression 24 in the bracket 10, and also partly closing an opening 26 in the floor.

This form of lock is called a pick-up lock, probably for the reason that in unlocking it the operator goes through the same motion he would use in picking up anything from'the floor. In operating the lock, the operator inserts his fingers through the opening 26 and into the recess 24 and picks up the operating member which first operates the latch 17 to open the same, and then opens the door on its hinge in case the spring is not strong enough to do so.

The latch 17 is normally pressed toward its operative position by a spring 27, and is moved out of its operativeposition when the member 19 is operated. The member 19 cannot be effectively operated, when the door is slid out of its normal position axially of its hinge, as the arm 23 of the operating member moves out of the slot 21 of the latch 17.

Preferably, the bracket 10 is formed in two parts, the end portion 28 being detachable from the major'part thereof, and in manufacturing, the brackets 10 are furnished in certain lengths and the major parts thereof are cut off the required distance to fit the floors, and the end portions which are of standard length are attached thereto.

As here shown, the bracket 10 is hollow or in the form of a channel or double channel in cross-section, and the detachable end 28 thereof is provided with a shank 29 for fitting into the channel and with a groove at the base of the shank for receiving the extreme end of the major part of the bracket 10. The major part of the bracket 10 and the end portion 28 are secured together in any suitable manner, as by fastening mem bers 31 extending transversely therethrough.

The trap door is slidable outwardly axially for the purpose of projecting a por tion thereof beyond a side face of the car, to bridge the space between the car and station platforms which are elevated to a height nearly flush with the car platforms, and this axial shifting is here shown as effected by a rcck shaft 32, Fig. 1, carried by the car platform, and having a rock arm 33 thereon connected by'a link 34 to a slide 35 which is connected to the floor 5 of the trap door to slide axially therewith.

As the rock shaft 32 is operated, the motion thereof is transmited to the floor 5 through the slide 35. This slide 35 moves into and out of a recess at the top of the riser of the top step, and bridges the space between the inner edge of the floor 5 and the platform when the floor 5 is projected outwardly. The slide 35 is coupled to the floor 5 by means of shoulders or tongues 36 on the edge thereof nearest the floor 5, which tongues interlock in complemental sockets 37 in the floor 5. The tongues 36 and the sockets 37 are constructed to separate when the trap door is opened on its hinge. The slide 35, or any other structure pertinent thereto, forms no part of this invention.

What I claim is:- 1. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, supportingmeans for the floor including a hinge member and a portion located under the floor, the floor being movable relatively to its supportingmeans, and a latch for holding the door in closed position, carried under the floor, by the supporting means, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, supporting means for the floor including a hinge member and a portion located-under the floor, the floor beingmovable relatively to its supporting means, a latch carried under the floor by the supporting means for holding the door in closed position, and means exposed on the top side of the floor and coacting with the latch to operate the same, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, supporting means for the floor including a hinge member and a portion located under the floor and extending around the edge thereof, the floor being movable relatively to said portion, a latch for holding the door in closed position, the latch being carried under the floor by the supporting means, and means carried by the floor of the door for operating the latch; in combination with means located at said edge of the door with which the portion of the supporting means extending around the edge engages, and a keeper for coacting with the latch, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being movable relatively to the bracket and the hinge member, and a latch for holding the door in closed position, the latch being carried by thebracket at the free end thereof, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. A hinged trap door for railway ear platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidable relatively to the bracket-and the hinge member, a latch for'holding the door in closed position, the latch being carried by the bracket near the free edge of the door, and means for operating the latch, carried by the floor and movable therewith, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being movable relatively to the bracket and the hinge member, a latch for holding the door in closed position, the latch being carried by the bracket near the free edge of the door, and means for operating the latch carried by the floor and movable therewith, said means being normally in interlocking relation with the latch and being movable out of interlocking relation therewith when the floor is moved from its normal position relatively to the bracket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the fioor being slidably mounted on the bracket, a latch for holding the door in closed position, carried by the bracket and having a slot therein extending parallel to the direction of the sliding movement of the floor, and an operating member carried by the floor and having an arm extending into said slot and slidable therein during the sliding movement of the floor, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted cnthe bracket, a latch for holding the door in closed position, carried by the bracket and having a slot therein extending parallel to the direction of the sliding movement of the floor, and an operating member carried by the floor and having an arm extending into said slot and slidable therein during the sliding movement of the floor, the exposed part of the operating member being normally flush with the upper face of the floor, substantially as and for the purpose described.

9. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, a latch for holding the door in closed position by said bracket, and a pick-up operating member carried by the floor and movable therewith, and having a sliding interlocking engagement with the latch whereby said member moves out of and into operative engagement with the latch during the sliding movement of the door out of and to its normal position, substantially as and for the puropse set forth.

1 0. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted 011 the hinge mem ber and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, and the bracket having an undercut channel at its free end in which the door slides, a latch carried by the bracket near the free end thereof for holding the door in closed position, and an operating member carried by the floor and slidably engaged with the latch, substantially as and for the purpose described.

11. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, a latch for holding the door in its closed position, the latch coacting with the free end of the bracket, and an operating member carried by the floor having means slidably interlocking with the latch when the door is in its normal position and movable out of interlocking engagement with the latch when the door is slid from its normal position relatively to the bracket, gigstantially as and for the purpose speci- 12. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, and a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, the bracket having a section slidably interlocked with the free edge of the floor, and means for securing said section to the major part of the bracket, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

13. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge mem ber and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, the bracket having a section, and means for securing the section to the major part of the bracket, and a latch for holding the door in closed position. the latch being carried by the detachable end portion of the bracket, substantially as and for the purpose described.

14. A hinged trap door for railway car platforms comprising a floor, a hinge member, a bracket mounted on the hinge member and underlying the floor, the floor being slidably mounted on the bracket and the hinge member, the bracket having a section, and means for securing the section to the major part of the bracket, a latch for holding the door in closed position, the latch being carried by the detachable end portion of the bracket, and an operating member for the latch, said member being carried by the floor, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Atlantic City, in the county of Atlantic, and State of New Jersey, this 10th day of June, 1915.

EDWVARD F. CHAFFEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

